Hello SewCanShe readers! I am Abbe from JustAnE {click here to visit my shop},
and I am absolutely thrilled to be a guest blogger here today. When Caroline asked if I’d like to do a guest
post, I must admit I was a bit intimidated since I don’t even have my own blog
(yet!). However, I DO love to sew, have
my own small Etsy shop, and my Trapezoid Bag was Caroline’s Pick in the recent
SewCanShe Crazy Quilt Block Sewalong. I learned to sew in junior high and did a
few projects here and there throughout high school. However, I let my sewing go by the wayside
for years and only truly began to pick it up again (and subsequently become
obsessed J ) a little over a year ago. One
of the first online resources I found to fuel my growing sewing addiction was
the SewCanShe site. I absolutely love
getting daily emails with new projects to try.
I have gotten so much inspiration and have honed many forgotten skills
through the amazing and creative tutorials on the site. Today, I’d love to share with you how I put
the Trapezoid Bag together by modifying one of the tutorials in the SewCanShe
archives: the Olivia Bag by Dixie Mango (http://www.dixiemango.com/2011/06/the-olivia-bag-tutorial
).

I loved the Olivia Bag by Dixie Mango the moment
I saw it. The unique shape caught my
attention, and I immediately imagined making it in a fabric I’d been keeping in
my stash for just the right project. I
followed the tutorial pretty much exactly for my first bag. I simply left out the zippered pocket and added
a button and loop closure rather than use the magnetic snap. The tutorial is fantastic and easy to
follow. I hadn’t done more than one or two
purses/bags before, so I appreciated the detailed instructions. I loved the finished product, and the first
time I took it out I got so many compliments and even had two women ask to
order one from me! A few days later, a
friend asked if I could make a bag with a similar shape, but larger. Thus, my modified version was born. I increased the bottom width of the trapezoid
shape pattern by 5 inches and then adjusted the rest accordingly. The result is
a bag large enough to get me through a long day out with 3 kids!

When I saw the Crazy Quilt Block Sewalong last
month, I thought the modified Trapezoid bag might show off my crazy quilt block
nicely. I often sew little girls’
clothes and tend to love vibrant, bright colors, so my scrap pile is quite interesting. I constructed the block using a variety of
fabrics, but most of them are either from the Riley Blake Fox Trails line, or
Michael Miller Mod Basics Starlettes, with a few random prints thrown in
there. The “star” of my block, I suppose
you could say, is the cute, boot-wearing donkey. That particular fabric is one of my favorites
and just makes me happy. As it is now
out-of-print, I have been trying to use every last little piece I have!

I constructed a basic crazy quilt block using
the tutorial posted on SewCanShe (http://thesewingloftblog.com/2013/04/19/sewing-with-scrapscrazy-square-block-2
). My finished block measured about 14”
long by 16” wide, so I added strips of the orange star fabric to all sides
until I had a rectangle that measured 17” long by 24” wide. This allowed me to lay my Trapezoid bag pattern
piece on top and cut it out to size. Since
I was using quilting weight cottons, I used lightweight fusible interfacing on
the outside bag fabric and heavier, fusible fleece on the bag lining
fabric. These definitely gave the bag
some shape and heft and should allow it to wear well. I also used scraps to construct the straps,
and I liked that I could show off some more of my favorite fabrics this
way.

All in all, I think it turned out to be a
unique, bright bag, and it never fails to put a smile on my face! Best of all, it allowed me to creatively
modify and embellish a wonderful pattern.
Thanks, SewCanShe, for putting up the challenge!

Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. :)